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Google unveiled its newest approach to getting Web content onto high-definition TV sets with its $35 Chromecast device that can play Web videos from Netflix, YouTube and Google Play on an HDTV. The device uses a home's Wi-Fi, plugs into a TV's HDMI port and can be controlled by a smartphone, tablet or computer. This is Google's second connected TV device and will largely combat Apple's $99 Apple TV.

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Sony, TiVo, Microsoft and Google are among the technology players trying to figure out ways to compete for TV ad dollars, via the new generation of set-top boxes that bring online video to TV sets and other emerging platforms. Among the possibilities, Sony reportedly is looking at ads that would appear in advance of programming on its Web-enabled TVs, Blu-ray players and PlayStation 3, while Google is making plans to include ads in search listings used to figure out what to watch.

"Diggnation," an online video program that tracks stories on the Web 2.0 news site Digg.com, is watched by a reported 250,000 viewers per week, with sponsors paying as much as $10,000 to be featured on a single episode.

This was the year of the Web-TV set-top box at the Consumer Electronics Shows, with such devices unveiled by most major electronics players, including Advanced Micro Devices, Microsoft and Sony. Their presence in such numbers shows marketers' belief in their potential and could signal major changes in how viewers watch TV, writes BusinessWeek's Catherine Holahan.

This was the year of the Web-TV set-top box at the International Consumer Electronics Show, with such devices unveiled by most major electronics players, including Advanced Micro Devices, Microsoft and Sony. Their presence in such numbers shows marketers' belief in their potential and could signal major changes in how viewers watch TV, writes BusinessWeek's Catherine Holahan.

This was the year of the Web-TV set-top box at the International Consumer Electronics Show, with such devices unveiled by most major electronics players, including Advanced Micro Devices, Microsoft and Sony. Their presence in such numbers shows marketers' belief in their potential and could signal major changes in how viewers watch TV, writes BusinessWeek's Catherine Holahan.